1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a mounting arrangement for a cooking surface and more particularly, to a mounting arrangement for a cooking surface, wherein the cooking surface is to be installed in a cut-out in a work plate using a frame and an assembly unit, wherein the cooking surface is supported by a support section of either the frame or the assembly unit, wherein the frame is a one-piece unit which is connected to the assembly unit, and wherein each of the frame and the assembly unit have mutually allocated locking projections and locking recesses for forming a locking connection to connect the frame and the assembly unit into a sub-assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
One type of mounting arrangement for a cooking surface is known from DE 40 04 093 (hereinafter DE '093). In the type of mounting arrangements taught in DE '093, the assembly unit has a flange that projects outwardly and is supported in the surface of the work plate. The assembly unit itself serves to receive and shield the heating elements that are arranged beneath the cooking surface. The cooking surface is constructed as a glass-ceramic plate. A frame is used to support and fix the cooking surface. The frame includes a shoulder with a circumscribing horizontal support section. The cooking surface has an edge area which can be placed on the support section and can be fixed to the support section by using a silicone adhesive in a material-locking manner. Locking connections are provided to connect the frame to the assembly unit. These types of mounting arrangements can become costly because of the assembly work needed to adhere the cooking surface to the frame.
Another type of mounting arrangement is known from EP 03 91 122 (hereinafter EP '122). In this type of mounting arrangement, a frame is normally built and assembled using four legs therefor in order to fix the cooking surface to the work plate. The legs of the frame include a plug receptacle. The plug receptacle has a support section and a cover section. The cover section is parallel to and at a distance from the support section. Each of the legs of the frame, including their plug receptacle, slide onto the edge of the cooking surface. Thus, the underside of the cooking surface comes into contact with the top of the support section. The cover section overlaps the cooking surface at the top of the area near the edge of the cooking surface. The individual legs of the frame form a closed frame around the cooking surface. The frame, thus-configured, has a flange which projects outwardly, and which lies on another flange of the assembly unit. The flange of the assembly unit has a tub-shaped base body into which electronic components can be arranged under the cooking surface. Fastening receptacles are recessed into the assembly unit in order to connect the frame to the assembly unit. These fastening receptacles must be aligned with the appropriate threads in the frame so that the frame can be screwed onto the assembly unit.
A mounting apparatus such as taught in EP '122 requires costly assembly work. Also, the assembly unit is often not precisely aligned with respect to the cooking surface because of the tolerances between the screws and the fastening receptacles. Thus, the heating elements are not exactly arranged at the intended positions on the underside of the cooking surface.
An object of the present invention is to provide a mounting arrangement of the type taught in EP '122, but forming a secure attachment of the cooking surface with as little costs for assembly and parts as possible.
The above-described object is accomplished according to the present invention by having the cooking surface clamped and sealed between the frame and the assembly unit so that the cooking surface is connected to the mounting arrangement in a simple manner during an assembly step of joining the frame to the assembly unit. In this way, the sealing of the cooking surface to the mounting arrangement is also reliably accomplished at the same time.